Mark Shapiro

Minus the self-congratulation and TV industry dialectics — the vividly recalled meetings, the anecdotes in which the on-air talent receives recognition/reaches pinnacle of career/wins a Sports Emmy — there's some pretty good stuff in the new book on the history of ESPN, called, "Those Guys Have All the Fun."

The title is meant to convey the party school atmosphere at the all-sports network, if not serve as some ironic comment on life in Bristol, Conn., where ESPN has been headquartered since it was launched in 1979, and which, as many an ESPN employee makes clear in this book, is an Area 51 of culture.

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Minus the self-congratulation and TV industry dialectics — the vividly recalled meetings, the anecdotes in which the on-air talent receives recognition/reaches pinnacle of career/wins a Sports Emmy — there's some pretty good stuff in the new book on the...